Dear Stakeholder

 

I am writing to let you know about how we’re modernising operations at some of our busier stations. 

 

Our plan is to bring staff out from behind ticket office windows to provide an improved customer experience, they will have a wide range of skills and access to modern technology so they can sell tickets, and help with customer queries.

 

We propose to make these changes at approximately 80 of our stations, and the level of change proposed is based on ticket sales and customer demand at each of these stations. We have carried out detailed analysis and are monitoring the changing behaviours of our passengers as they move to self-service and on-line retailing. We are also looking at how our online, ticket machine, smartcard and contactless retail options should be enhanced to support our plans.

 

We will also be looking at opening times of the ticket office windows at these stations. No ticket offices will close immediately: these are proposals which will go through public consultation, be discussed with London TravelWatch and Transport Focus and require approval from the Department for Transport.

 

We are in the early stages of this project.  We already know that there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of our proposals, however some job roles will change and we are in discussions with staff union representatives.

 

The project aims to bring staff out of the ticket office to where they are needed most, whilst introducing the right technology to provide a truly modern experience.  We’ll also have our staff around for longer than today at these stations so will be able to increase the opening hours of facilities such as waiting rooms, toilets and lifts.

 

Please find attached a factsheet giving an overview of our proposals. To see a full list of stations and how they will change please follow these links: http://www.thameslinkrailway.com/about-us/news/modernising-our-stat...or http://www.southernrailway.com/southern/news/modernising-our-stations/

 

We are keen to keep our industry partners and stakeholders informed as we develop and implement these plans. Therefore if you would like to meet about this proposal please contact: Katherine.Cox@gtrailway.com or Yvonne.leslie@gtrailway.com

 

Kind regards

 

Katherine Cox

Stakeholder Manager

Govia Th​ameslink Railway (GTR)

Addendum

There are three bands of stations identified:

1. Stations where we sell fewer than 12 tickets an hour: here we propose to bring staff out from behind the ticket office windows and on to the concourse where they’re needed most, to provide assistance and help sell tickets from ticket machines and their own handheld devices.
2. Stations where we sell more than 12 tickets an hour but where most passengers still use ticket machines and other ways to pay such as Oyster, contactless and smartcards: here we propose to relocate the ticket selling equipment to a station hosting point so the staff are available on the concourse to provide assistance but still able to sell tickets for longer than ticket offices are currently open.
3. Stations where we still rely heavily on ticket offices in the peak: Here we propose to staff the ticket office window at peak times but we will also position ticket selling equipment at a station hosting point so the staff are available on the concourse.